Saturday, August 23, 2008

So, I happen to be an Enforcer for the Penny Arcade Expo, a volunteer position I definitely love, as it comes attached to the most amazing group of people I’ve ever had the privilege of knowing. ;P Anywho, we have a Meet and Greet/Function a week before PAX every year, to which I’ll be headed in the next 5 Hours. (Yeah, I should probably sleep, but I’ve never really been good at the whole Sleep thing. ;P ) This is the First Official step towards PAX this year for me (Last year I lucked into assisting elsewhere, but this year my schedule is whacked. ;P Which is why I’ve taken off work from Wed 08/27 – Tues 09/02 for it.) and I’m Psyched… which certainly isn’t helping with the whole Sleep thing. >.> Anywho, you can count on my next blog being somewhat about that, so stay tuned. ^.^

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Okay, so I love Chrono Trigger just as much as the Next person who broke their way (Almost literally… ;P ) into RPG’s through Final Fantasy (The Original, on the NES), but I must admit that I’m not That excited for the release of Chrono Trigger for the DS. Don’t get me wrong, I’m going to snatch it up the day it comes out and I’ll be fighting Gato’s evil twin in the Black Omen before the weeks out… but I’m just not as Excited as I’d love to be…

Here’s the thing. I’ve played Chrono Trigger all the way through, on not only the Snes, but also the PS1, and even on my computer… so when I pick it up to play on the DS, I’m looking for a compelling reason to do it again (Awesome Story, Fun Characters, Amazing Combat System, and Overall High Caliber Game aside… >.> ). I mean, if you Really want to get down to it I can take Chrono Trigger with me on the Go. I mean I’ve got a PSP, and there are perfectly fine Snes Emulators out there that run it… so why am I buying it on the DS Again?

My main gripe is that it sounds like they’re doing practically nothing to it. One new dungeon (Though some quick Digging looks like they may have confirmed more. That at least would be ^.^ !!! )… wireless battles (Which with Whyte from the DS Remake of FFIV having reared his ugly head… even this doesn’t immediately excite me. ;? )… and the extra content (Bestiary, Cut Scenes, Etc.) from the PS1 Version. Whoop?

Forgive me, but while messing too much with a classic can be dangerous (Anyone play Wild Arms Alter Code F? Did you like Wild Arms? Then Don’t. :/ Or at least realize that it’s a Re-imagining, and not a Remake… there’s a significant difference. ;? ), I like to see some kind of Additions. If you want examples of Doing it right look to the Ports of FFI/FFII (Would have Liked a Hard Mode), FFIV(<3 Character Swapping… could have fleshed them out a mite more. ;P ), FFV (The Odd duck, though since the Jobs were the core here, there wasn’t much they could do… except maybe more meat to the story. O.o ), and FFVI (Nicely done… though lighter on the awesome) on the GBA. If it turns out like these games, then I’ll be more than Ecstatic, I’ll be Jubilant.

Finally though, it all comes down to the fact that I’m terribly hopeful that this is Sqeenix’s attempt at seeing how much sway Chrono and the gang still hold in the Market. That maybe, if this game does good, they’ll release a real sequel. (Chrono Cross feels like an Original IP that they chickened out on and attached to the Chrono Trigger Universe to cash in on the Fans… :/ Sad really, as it was actually a very good game… just not a good sequel to Chrono Trigger…. I think they actually hurt it more in going that route. ;?) For that, I’ll buy the game, recommend it to anyone who’s never played it (Everyone who has is in the same hope boat as I. ;P ), and watch the horizons hopefully.